Volatile Aldehydes

Oxidative rancidity is an important cause of food spoilage. It is a direct result of the reaction of unsaturated fatty acids with oxygen, which results in the release of volatile aldehydes. Volatile aldehydes have a very strong and pungent odour and are characterized by very low odour thresholds. Consequently, very sensitive instrumentation is required in order to spot food spoilage at an early stage.

We have developed an on-line platform that uses SPME with on-fiber derivatisation for automated analysis of aldehydes in combination with GC/MS. The system is based on the twin approach, in which loading the fiber with derivatisation agent is carried out by one child and SPME with the other.